


The Trouble With Locked Doors

by Omnibard



Series: A Place Out By The Sun [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Ancient Solheim, Headcanon, Heir, Niflheim, Pre-Caelum legends, Snippets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-25 20:45:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13842702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omnibard/pseuds/Omnibard
Summary: Ardyn discovers Aldercapt's greatest secret.





	The Trouble With Locked Doors

The room beyond the no-longer-locked-oh-my-how-did-that-happen-he-should-inform-someone door was expansive and cluttered.  The far wall had three floor-to-ceiling windows that seemed weighted-down by thick, thrown open, red curtains to let the daylight come in.  Sumptuous furnishings, all expensive and well-made, greeted him-- everything a pampered nobleman might need-- a king size bed, a small table for four, couches, armchairs, chaises, coffee and end tables, bookshelves, and what appeared to be a dressing and bathing suite attached to the far left.  Everything was encumbered with evidence of poor housekeeping.  Books and papers overburdened tables and seating alike.  Clothing across the floor and furniture.  Instruments and weapons-- training as well as otherwise-- lain carelessly here or there.  The piano was left open and scattered with sheet music in the corner.

Not the remains of a tantrum, no.  This was clear evidence of a restless, careless existence.

 

Across the room, slumped in a chair with one foot propped up on the back of another one, sat the person who could only be the resident of this chamber, and culprit of this chaos.  He was a young man, dressed in Imperial white and gold and red, wearing the effortless, almost  _ lazy _ poise of a feline as he gazed out the window.  He was golden-blonde and handsome with a tall, strong build.  Regardless of his youth, his frame was shaped well-- no awkward angles and gawkiness.  Slowly, as if unconcerned or unsurprised, the youth turned his head to regard the person who had entered with a self-assured smile and mild curiosity dancing in his lagoon-blue eyes.

 

“Why hello!” Ardyn smiled back easily, “You must forgive my intrusion… it seems something is wrong with your door.”

The blonde could sense mischief like a coeurl scented blood on the wind, it seemed, and he  _ grinned _ , “Yeah, it’s usually not supposed to open.  Guess we’d better tell somebody about it.” Then he gestured to the nearby chaise, “Eventually.”

 

The Chancellor took the invitation, closing the door behind him again and languidly making his way to the seat offered, eyes roving the clutter, “Surely this isn’t the first time it’s opened…?”

 

“No.  But His Imperial Majesty is very strict about when it does.” The youth shrugged and glanced out the window again before looking at his guest and gesturing off-handedly at the room with a wry grin, “So the servants don’t get in here as much as they ought.”

Considering this very carefully, along with some other bits and bobs he’d picked up during his tenure as Chancellor, the man in the black coat settled easily on the chaise-- relatively empty as it was-- before speaking again with cautious wonder, “You are Aldercapt’s heir.”

“Nat’ian,” The blonde shifted, lowering his raised leg and sitting a bit more upright, “Call me ‘Nate’.”

 

“Nate.” Ardyn smiled, pleased to learn something, downright  _ tickled _ to have discovered Aldercapt’s great secret, but his mind kept whispering  _ ‘Nat’ian, Nat’ian’ _ and it  _ meant _ something.  He just couldn’t remember at the moment.

 

The youth grinned, “Who in the black hells might you be?”

Ardyn placed him at sixteen or seventeen-- though he lacked the awkward self-consciousness associated with that phase of human life.  No,  _ Nate _ was all leonine swagger. “Oh, how rude of me… I am Ardyn Izunia, Chancellor of Niflheim, advisor and humble servant to His Radiance.”

 

Nate looked at him quietly a few moments, still grinning, “... No you’re not.  You’re up to something.”

“ _ Up _ to something?  Perish the thought--”

“--I can tell--”

“--Well, I suppose that  _ was _ a bit of mischief just now, and well,  _ any _ noble in the court is clearly  _ up _ to something-- but a man can’t be faulted for a little ambition, can he?”

“I wouldn’t say so… but other men in the court haven’t been carrying around a plague of shadow and hate for over two-thousand years, either.”

 

The casual, almost mirthful accusation dropped in the room like a glass, shattering and sending dangerous slivers in all directions.  Ardyn felt something  _ buckle _ inside, pieces of him twisting and writhing like shrapnel.  Suddenly he longed to lash out in violence.  But only for a moment.  Then it passed, and he tilted his head a bit to the side.

“Do you think so?”

“I know so.”

“How is that?”

Shrugging, the heir to the Imperial throne sat fully upright before leaning forward, elbows resting on thighs, “I’m the Arbiter.  It’s my  _ business _ to measure the souls of men.”

 

_ ‘Arbiter’ _ sat in the same strange tickling spot in his head that  _ ‘Nat’ian’ _ did, and Ardyn took a moment to rub his chin before gesturing, “I’m afraid you have me at a severe disadvantage.  I can only claim to  _ guess _ \-- with some accuracy-- the  _ minds _ of men.  I’ve no hope of reading  _ souls. _ ”

“It’s a talent.” The irrepressible grin broadened, and the Chancellor decided he  _ liked _ the young man enough to not murder him here in this room before he left.

“Of course,” He grinned back, “Does His Imperial Majesty know of your singular talent?”

“He's  _ counting  _ on it.”

“Oh?”

“For his legacy.  To fulfill the prophecy about the Eternal Kingdom of the Sun.”

Ardyn felt his brow furrow, and he folded his hands together, “... Isn’t that a Solheim legend?”

“Naturally.  ‘When the Arbiter takes his place upon the Throne of the Sun, His reign and Empire will be everlasting as the Light.  Prosperity unending and peace eternal.’” The blonde quoted almost  _ boredly. _

 

Ardyn would have been amused, but he was too busy suddenly realizing that  _ ‘Nat’ian’ _ sounded an awful lot like an ancient Solheim name from some of his earliest studies, back when he’d been… a much younger,  _ purer _ man.

“... Nate?  Are you  _ really _  the Arbiter?”

The blonde laughed, “Ah.  Suddenly realizing you may not be the oldest man in the room anymore?”

“It’s extraordinary… How did they--”

“--I don’t know.  I wasn’t awake when they did.  You want to ask them?”

Ardyn chuckled, “That would probably be unwise.”

“Probably.”

“...Is that why you’re in here?”

A nod, “Aldercapt wants me hidden from his enemies-- inside and outside the court.  As if I’m at  _ risk _ or something.”

“You can’t blame the man for his caution or consideration!  Why it would be the tragedy to end all tragedies should something befall a man like yourself.”

Then Ardyn stood, and slowly stepped toward the door. “But I’ve forgotten the time… Surely someone will come asking after me and it will be troublesome for us both if I’m found here.”

“Ardyn.”

“Yes?”

“... I don’t know what you’re planning, and at the moment I don’t really care.  But keep in mind that when I take the throne… there won’t be any  _ room _ for shadow.”

The Chancellor bowed deeply, “I will remember it.  In the meantime, however, might I observe that there is probably  _ quite a bit _ of time between that moment and this one… and a great deal of the world beyond this door-- which, indeed, I should have someone fix…”

“Probably.”

“ _ Adieu, _ Nate, my friend.  It was  _ invigorating _ to make your acquaintance.”

 

Ardyn exited the chamber, leaving the door open, to go and get his hands on some of the more ancient texts in the great vaults that Aldercapt guarded so  _ jealousy _ (like his heir, it seemed), to try and find an old story: how in ancient Solheim--before the Fall of the Infernian and the appearance of the daemons, before the ascendance of Lucis Caelum and Nox Fleuret--the Astrals lived in harmony with man, and society was upheld by a divinely appointed Judge with the authority to adjudicate and enforce the law of the Astrals, with the penance served in the  _ next _ life.

 

He was just putting his materials away again when the alarm rose-- an important guest of the Emperor’s was discovered missing.  The Chancellor managed to hide his grin and look properly concerned by the time he swept back into the presence of the court.

**Author's Note:**

> Got questions? Want to talk about it? [Here's your mic! ](https://mtraki.tumblr.com/ask)


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